West African Defence, Security Chiefs End Meeting

ACCRA, Ghana (PANA) - West African defence and security chiefs ended a meeting aimed at giving teeth to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peace and Security in Accra Thursday night with an agreement on the composition of composite standby units in each country.

This, they said, is for a quick deployment of troops in case of conflict.

Lansana Kouyate, executive secretary of the Economic Community of West African States, said the meeting determined a minimum and maximum strength of the unit to be deployed in each country but declined to give details.

The mechanism seeks to create a standing force in the sub-region, which will strengthen co-operation in the areas of conflict prevention, early warning, peacekeeping operations, the control of cross border crime, international terrorism and proliferation of small arms and anti-personnel mines.

It is also to promote close co-operation between member-states in the areas of preventive diplomacy and peacekeeping as well as maintaining and consolidating peace, security and stability within the sub-region.

On how the new force will be funded, Kouyate said the heads of state of ECOWAS had decided that a Community Levy of 0.5 percent would be imposed on all imports into the region, which will be fed into a special account devoted to the equipping and providing logistical needs of the standby force.

He said the sub-region welcomes any assistance from the international community but noted that some initiative had to be taken from within.

Kouyate added that the case whereby ECOMOG, the sub-region's peace monitoring force, was hampered by logistical problems in Liberia and Sierra Leone would soon be a thing of the past if all members resolve to support the group to meet its defined roles.

He repeated calls for the UN to change the role of peacekeepers in Sierra Leone to peace enforcement to enable them confront the difficult realities that they face in their duties.

"I will like to see us go beyond a strong peacekeeping mandate to a peace enforcement mandate," he said.

Kouyate added that another requirement of the mechanism is to establish a Council of Elders who will move into countries found to have tensions that could degenerate into wars and settle them in pure African tradition.

"Currently, 12 countries have submitted names of persons they wish to have on the council who will be posted at 'observatories' in Gambia, Burkina Faso, and Cotonou," he said. "The observatories will detect in different zones signs of tension and act on them."

He said the central observatory to be sited in Abuja, Nigeria, would start in two weeks after which adverts will be placed for the right support staff to man them.

On the renewal of conflict in northern Liberia, Kouyate described the situation as "precarious," especially as it embraces Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.